Moon Over Maui

This Day Counts!

Written By: Jueli Garfinkle
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Apr•
24•12

Every day counts. That’s obvious, really. A cliché, even. But counting every day of this month is the focus of the Iyar moon, which hangs in the sky April 23 through May 21. Iyar celebrates the everyday miracle of being alive (!)

There are times when you know, without any doubt, that a miracle has occurred. Perhaps you’re nearly drowning at sea only to find yourself breathlessly thrown up on the shore to safety. Was it a wave? Was it the Divine hand? Only your heart will ever know for sure.

The focus of the Iyar moon cycle is not these larger-than-life-like “Divine Fireworks.” Instead, Iyar centers on remembering—and counting—every day as a miracle, no matter what. Some days are wonderful and joyous; others are dull, dreary, and draining; some even, God forbid, are filled with sadness, grief, and fear. Whatever your day-to-day experience, it counts. It’s astonishing!

High moments are magnificent, of course: the births and weddings, promotions and holidays. But Iyar is a month of acknowledging and counting every day as a unique and worthy gift. It is the only moon cycle of the year that has a formal mitzvah associated with every single day of the month: to count the Omer, to count the days, to acknowledge the bounty and the harvest of every day. It is a gift to be alive and participate in this very moment.

Throughout this moon cycle, carve out time to count the days and acknowledge the miracles of daily experience. You can make a mental list or write them down. Or, just exclaim them aloud. Here’s a spontaneous sample listing from my day.

Everyday miracles today, the seventeenth day, which is two weeks and three days of the Omer:

I am alive!

A fallen Iris bud blossoming in a ramekin of tap water.

The self-defined “silly mind” of my exuberant four-and-a-half year old boy.

Writing in a public library, where information, comfort, and internet are free (!).

The wrinkled nose of my man after he kissed my garlic-rosemary breath.